So built into the translation process was a kind of orality that would be uncommon to most formal written Chinese, but that would be part of both the Indian philosophical tradition since a sutra is a lecture and the informal tradition of philosophical discussion and poetry-writing that was an important part of the social lives of Chinese intellectuals.

this Pope Center essay, Prof. Tom Bertonneau argues that many young Americans - those who disdain books and any but the lightest reading - are sliding back into "orality," the state that precedes literacy.